Referred to: The Public Health and Social Services Committee (Chairman Lopez and

Legislators Allen, Belfiglio, Litts and Provenzano)

Legislator Herbert Litts, III and Legislators Allen, Archer, Bartels, Belfiglio, Briggs,

Donaldson, Fabiano, Gerentine, Greene, Gregorius, Lopez, Loughran, Maio,

Maloney, J. Parete, R. Parete, Provenzano, Roberts, Rodriguez, Ronk, Wawro and

Wishnick offer the following:

WHEREAS, October is recognized as National Dyslexia Awareness Month by

the National Institute for Learning Development; and

WHEREAS, the International Dyslexia Association (IDA) Board of Directors

and the Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) define dyslexia

as difficulties with accurate and / or fluent word recognition and by poor spelling and

decoding abilities typically resulting from a deficit in the phonological component of

language that is often unexpected in relation to other cognitive abilities and the

provision of effective classroom instruction; and

WHEREAS, secondary consequences may include problems in reading

comprehension and reduced reading experience that can impede growth of

vocabulary and background knowledge; and

WHEREAS, people with dyslexia often have average to superior intelligence

with many gifted in math, science, fine arts, journalism, and other creative fields; and

WHEREAS, some signs associated with dyslexia include: difficulty learning

to speak, trouble learning letters and their sounds, difficulty organizing written and

spoken language, trouble memorizing number facts, difficulty reading quickly

enough to comprehend, trouble persisting with and comprehending longer reading

assignments, difficulty spelling, trouble learning a foreign language, and/or difficulty

correctly doing math operations; and

WHEREAS, Dyslexia affects individuals throughout their lives; however, its

impact can change at different stages in a person’s life; and

WHEREAS, perhaps as many as 15–20% of the population as a whole—have

some of the symptoms of dyslexia, including slow or inaccurate reading, poor

spelling, poor writing, or mixing up similar words; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, that the Ulster County Legislature hereby proclaims October

2015 as Dyslexia Awareness Month in Ulster County; and, be it further

RESOLVED, that the Clerk of the Ulster County Legislature shall forward

copies of this resolution to Ulster County Executive Michael Hein, Ulster County

Department of Health and Mental Health Commissioner Carol Smith and all Ulster

County media outlets,

and move its adoption.

 ADOPTED BY THE FOLLOWING VOTE:

 AYES: 22 NOES: 0

 (Absent: Legislator Fabiano)

Passed Committee: Public Health and Social Services on October 5, 2015

FINANCIAL IMPACT:

NONE

STATE OF NEW YORK

 ss:

COUNTY OF ULSTER

I, the undersigned Clerk of the Legislature of the County of Ulster, hereby certify that the foregoing resolution is

the original resolution adopted by the Ulster County Legislature on the 20th Day of October in the year Two Thousand and

Fifteen, and said resolution shall remain on file in the office of said clerk.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and seal of the County of Ulster this 22nd Day of

October in the year Two Thousand and Fifteen.

|s| Victoria A. Fabella

Victoria A. Fabella, Clerk

Ulster County Legislature